Tommy Johnson Jr. was patient while waiting on the sideline for several years for a new ride that would contend.

Returning to the NHRA Funny Car class earlier this season, Johnson’s patience paid off in Sunday’s final round of the Ford NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol (Tenn.) Dragway.

Johnson won his first NHRA national event since 2007 and his 10th career win overall, with a final round time of 4.156 seconds at 302.14 mph, defeating Tim Wilkerson.

“I’m thrilled that we were able to get it done and all that work paid off,” Johnson Jr. said. “The guys did a great job today. We’ve qualified great, we just couldn’t get it to go our way on race day.

“We’ve been competitive and we just couldn’t close the deal. It’s tough out here. I wanted to prove that we’re not in a slump and we needed to step it up a little bit and we did.”

In Top Fuel, 2013 NHRA champ Shawn Langdon finally broke through for his first win of the 2014 season.

Langdon also earned his first career win at Bristol and his ninth overall victory with a final round run of 3.819 seconds at 320.51 mph, defeating Doug Kalitta.

“With the stiff competition in Top Fuel, one thing you have to learn is patience and not to take anything for granted,” Langdon said. “We knew it was going to be tough. We’re still learning. Fortunately, we got this win and most importantly, we hope to continue earning those Mello Yello points.”

In Pro Stock, points leader Erica Enders-Stevens earned her series-high third win of the season and first-ever triumph at Bristol with a final round run of 6.698 seconds at 207.15 mph, defeating rookie Jonathan Gray.

“We had to dig deeper this weekend,” Enders-Stevens said. “Everybody out here is hungry. As a driver, I knew I had to step up to the plate and get up on the wheel.

“Momentum is huge in this sport and we just need to continue to carry it. To get it done today meant the world to me and my team gave me a car to drive to the winner’s circle.”

The circuit moves to the northeast part of the country this coming weekend (June 19-22) with the second annual Auto-Plus NHRA New England Nationals at New England Dragway in Epping, N.H.

Results information and quotes provided by NHRA media release.

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Here’s the final finishing order order (1-16) in Sunday’s final eliminations of the 14th annual Ford NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway:

Arse Clowns ESPN2 decided to show the tape delayed race starting at 11:00 PM EST so they once again lost most viewers who actually have a job and need to get up to go to work on Monday morning. I suspect next year ESPN2 will no longer be televising NHRA drag racing and that’s probably good news for viewers and NHRA.

Congrats to Langdon, TJ and Enders on hard fought wins. The competition just gets tougher by the week.